another postcard from amsterdam

another postcard from amsterdam

• 23 Jun 2011

I'm conferencing at the moment so I haven't had much time to get to my laptop. I spent all yesterday cooped up in an auditorium and spent most of today doing the same thing. I can't believe that I've only one more day left in Amsterdam.

Do you want to see some of the places I visited during the weekend?

I picked up an I-Amsterdam card on Sunday and raced around to as many museums as I could. It also happened to be the weekend of The Open Garden Day so I managed to see a few of the secret gardens as well.

The Museum van Loon, FOAM and the Museum Geelvinck are all in the same street.

From there, I walked to the Portuguese Synagogue, trying to avoid being run over by one of the many cyclists. Pedestrians don't appear to have any right of way in Amsterdam.

I found the synagogue covered in scaffolding due to renovations. It's a remarkably austere yet beautiful building lit by candles.

Just a short walk from the synagogue is the Hortus Botanicus, the Botanical Gardens. My favourite part of the garden was the butterfly greenhouse, where a very large butterfly planted itself on my head.

I had just enough energy left to take a few more photos before it was time to head home for the day. 

Tomorrow is my last day in Amsterdam and the plan is to do some shopping before getting on a plane to Edinburgh. I won't have any internet access during that time but I should be back again some time next week. 

So until then, 

Jillian